Brush receptacle



11 1930- w A LDERMAN. JR 1,743,646

BRUSH RECEPTACLE Filed Jan. so, 1928 Patented Jan. 14, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT orrlce I BRUSH RECEP'IACLE Application. filed January 30, 1928. Serial No. 250,674.

The invention relates to a brush receptacle, and more particularly to a receptacle adapted to retain tooth brushes or implements of a similar nature. Specifically, the invention contemplates a device of simple construction while providing means for'the sterilization of tooth brushes, or the like, and/or the application of medicaments to the brush.

Various attempts have been made to provide holders or receptacles for tooth brushes and like articles of hygiene but such devices have generally been lacking in a high degree of sterilizing efliciency or too costly to manufacture. Closable holders have been suggested but devices of such a nature necessarily confine the moisture and so maintain a medium which tends to permit the propagation of bacteria. Devices intended to hold various solid and liquid antiseptics are known but 2 these leave it to the user to see that a proper quantity of the antiseptic is employed. Some efforts have been directed to the provision of tooth-brush holders containing a'supply of volatile disinfectant which may be replenished from time to time from an exterior point of entry. In addition to the usual objectionable odors, the use of volatile antiseptics involves loss of the substance when the closure is removed from such receptacles.

At the present time, tooth brushes are considered to be an essential implement of hygiene but the care of a tooth brush is generally neglected. The usual practice is to hang the brush upon a hook, an appropriate hole being provided in the handle of the brush for that purpose. It is recognized that the brush should not be contaminated by contact with another brush but the simple avoidance of such contact does not adequately prevent contamination. For example, when several brushes are placed or hung in proximity to each other, the bristles of such brushes at least partially dry out between periods of usage thereby permitting various bacteria to float off in the surrounding atmosphere and so contaminate other brushes.

With the foregoing and other considerations in mind, it is an object of the present invention to provide a tooth brush holder which will efliciently maintain a tooth brush in a sanitary condition with but little attention on the part of the user.

Another object of the invention is to provide a tooth brush holder which is adapted to maintain the bristles of the brush, when positioned in the holder, beneath a body of an antiseptic liquid, the liquid being maintained at a constant level.

A further object is to enable the supply of antiseptic liquid to be replenished automatically as it is used up.

With such objects in view, reference is made to the accompanying drawing, which shows an embodiment of the invention, and wherein,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the brush holder, showing a bottle positioned therein; Fig. 2 is a sectional view, similar to Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a plan view of the'same; and Fig. 4 shows a modified form of the de-- vice, in plan view.

Referring particularly to the drawing, the numeral 1 indicates the base of the brush holder contemplated by this'invention. The brush holder may be constructed from suitable material, such as glass or china, which is impervious to liquid, or the material used may be glazed or treated to render it impervious. The lower. face of the device will usually be flattened, as shown. At one end, 2, of the brush holder an upstanding portion is provided with a well, 3, the upper end of the well 3 being enlarged, as at 4, and shaped to conform to the design of an inverted bottle B. The well 3 is so designed as to permit the bottle to be positioned in such a manner that the bottle will be adequately secured in the well, the mouth of the bottle terminating in semi predetermined plane, as on the line Opposite to the well 3, is a brush holding well, 5, and one or more such brush holding wells may be employed, two being shown in Fig. 3. The walls of the well 5 will ordinarily be somewhat higher than the wall of conduit 7 would ordinarily be in a straight line though it may contain a U-shaped portion (not shown) on: trap of similar nature.

Reference has been made above to the plane LL. As shown in Fig. 2, it is contemplated that the device will be made with the parts in such proportions that, when a tooth brush is positioned in the well 5 (as shown) the uppermost series of bristles of the brush will lie below the plane L-L in which the neck of the bottle, B, terminates.

In operation, the device is set on some convenient stand or supported in an appropriate manner, and a bottle of any desired antiseptic substance or medicament IS 111- verted over and positioned in the enlarged end 4 of the well 3, the stopper having previously been removed. Asis known. and in accordance with barometric principles, the liquid contained in the bottle will flow therefrom until the liouid rises in the well 3 to the plane L- L. In reaching this level, the liquid will, of course, till the conduit 7 and will rise to a corresponding height in the well 5. While the slight imperfections in the manufacture of the device or in the manufacture of bottles will ordinarily allow sufficient ingress of air to avoid the formation of a vacuum, I contemplate the provision of a vent. 8, to assure the operation of the device.

In use, selection may be made of many desirable antiseptic substances or medicaments in liquid form.v

'A seven ounce bottle is a convenient size to employ. Also, if desiredor upon dental prescription, liquid medicaments for the treatment of teeth or gums may be employed. Any liquid antiseptic used will be brought into intimate and substantially constant contact with the tooth-brush which will be maintained, thereby in antiseptic condition.

Various modifications of the device are contemplated within the scope of the claims, one

such modified form being shown in the drawing.

claim 1. A tooth brush holder comprising a base,

said base being provided with a well adapted to receive a portion of a bottle in inverted position therein, said base being provided with a second well adapted to contain a substantial portion of a tooth brush and to com- Eletely house the bristles of the same, a conuit connecting the two wells and communicating with the same at points proximate to the lower extremities thereof, the mouth of the bottle when positioned in the first mentioned well being at a level at least as high as the uppermost series of bristles of the tooth brush ositioned in the second mentioned well, w ereby, upon taining liquid in the rst mentioned well such liquid will rise to and maintain a level in the second mentioned well so as to completely cover all of the bristles of the tooth brush.

sitioning a bottl 2. A tooth brush holder comprising a base, said base being provided with a well adapted to receive a portion of a bottle in inverted position therein, a vent providing communication between the said well and the atmosphere, said base being provided with a second well adapted to contain a substantial portion of a tooth brush and to completely house the bristles of the same, a -conduit connecting the two wells and communicating with the.

same at points proximate to the lower extremities thereof, the mouth of the bottle when positioned in the first mentioned well being at a level at least as high as the uppermost series of bristles of the tooth brush positioned in the second mentioned well, whereby, upon positioning a bottle containing liquid in the first mentioned well such liquid will rise to and maintain a level in the second mentioned well so as to completely cover all of the bristles-of the tooth brush.

ZENAS \V. ALDERMAN, JR. 

